It is said that if a photo does not look good in color, it could still look decent in black and white. Indeed, but only to some extend, but even if it is so it's usually down to pushing it. The truth is that if you want to have great results in black and white, you should post process your photo in color first. If you capture something really interesting, and the shot is slightly out of focus or the composition is off, sure thing, convert it to black and white, throw some filters and call it art. But if you are serious about your portfolio or the quality of your photography art, then you will want your photos to look amazing regardless of whether they are in back and white or color. For me, black and white conversion takes LONGER, than editing photos in color. I make sure I got my shot tuned in color version, and then I work on black and white. I usually decide on post processing in the very moment of capturing the image, especially that retouching is an integral and essential ingredient of a successful image. If you want to learn more about black and white conversion watch my full length in-depth photoshop video tutorial.

No matter who I am photographing, I always say the same thing - I need good light and natural body language, and the rest can be fixed in post production. Modern photography is all about those three elements, and retouching is a seriously underestimated powerhouse. If you are a pro or amature photographer, and especially if you are a portrait photographer, you must learn photo retouching or else your photos will be weak. And I do not care about what all the "pure photography" idiots tell you, they just jealous, lazy or not talented enough to be able to work their own photos. I go even further, I think that post processing is more important than shooting, and the reason for this is simple - the possibilities you have with photoshop (forget lightroom and all the presets, leave that crap for lazy people), provided you have an artistic sense and vision, are endless. For anyone interested in private photoshop workshops, see here. Portrait editing is all about fixing all small issues that we all have as humans, like tiny skin discolorations, skin unevenness, over pronounced features due to unfortunate lighting, things that mess up the compositions but could not be dealt with in camera, and so on. If your editing skills are low, you are stuck with what you capture. Photography is not about what you capture, but what you want to share and show. Photography should not be a xerox copy of reality, but an image of a combination of your own artistic vision with the energy of the unique moment in time that you have witnessed.

Kids and old people - the best you can capture on camera. Kids because they are so pure, so unpredictable, so honest and raw and so everywhere in the same second. Old people because they are like kids, but with suitcases of life experience written all over their faces, no ego, no masks, just peace and tranquility. I captured this image today at Narita san temple complex near Tokyo, one of my favorite photography spots, and most amazing temples in Japan. I do not know who this lady is or what is her name or what was she thinking about before she spotted me taking her photos, so make your own story.

Unless you shoot high fashion, model photography, or going for some special look, backlit portraits are the best. The person doesn't squint, you have a beautiful rim light, and it just looks incredibly flattering. Especially if you shoot mature models, you do not want any harsh light on them. I took this photo without any fill light, and I was relying on the reflected light from the nearby walls, the ledge at the bottom, and also the highly reflective gold color background helped a lot to lift the light levels, and boost the colors. Good portraiture is all about understanding the light and the face features of your model, as well as confidence in your editing skills, especially if you shoot without any fill light. The person you photograph should be brighter than the background, so she or he stands out, regardless of how blurred and background is. There has to be a contrast between the eyes, face and the background, drawing you inside the image, creating a center point of the image and tone based leading lines or leading planes as I call them.